• Post category:Movies
  • Post last modified:July 11, 2017

Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story

HE’S ABOUT TO PLAY THE ROLE OF HIS LIFE.

Director Michael Winterbottom has a knack for making fake documentaries in the style of Christopher Guest, but this one has a different twist ā€“ stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon play themselves (or rather arrogant versions of the same) competing for the spotlight while making a period film based on the classic Laurence Sterne novel. A very amusing look behind the scenes of a movie production where the sharpest knife in the drawer is the lowest paid, least influential assistant. The ingenious thing about this film is of course that the productionā€™s ā€œrealā€ events and characterizations perfectly mirror that of the novel; it helps if youā€™ve read it.

2006-Britain. 91 min. Color. Widescreen.Ā Produced byĀ Andrew Eaton.Ā Directed byĀ Michael Winterbottom.Ā Screenplay:Ā Martin Hardy.Ā Novel:Ā Laurence Sterne (ā€œThe Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandyā€).Ā Cast:Ā Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Jeremy Northam (Mark), Raymond Waring, Dylan Moran, Keeley Hawesā€¦ Stephen Fry, Gillian Anderson.Ā Cameo:Ā Tony Wilson.

Trivia:Ā The pseudonym ā€œMartin Hardyā€ is actually Frank Cottrell Boyce.

Last word: “Iā€™ll tell you what was hard was because it was a film within a film, youā€™ve got like a real film crew and a fake film crew. The film crew thatā€™s being filmed ā€“ so it looks like youā€™re watching a film crew making a movie. So one of the film crewā€™s is fake ā€“ thereā€™s no film in the camera because that camera is being filmed by a real camera. That was kind of odd because sometimes Iā€™d think, ā€˜Whereā€™s the camera? Oh, itā€™s over there.ā€™ And Iā€™d think, ā€˜No, thatā€™s not a real camera, thatā€™s a fake camera. Whereā€™s the real camera?ā€™ That was kind of confusing. There were two film crews, a dummy film crew and a real one ā€“ so that was pretty confusing.” (Coogan, About.com)

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